Forex dealers to fix benchmark interest rate

Bangladesh's foreign exchange dealers have decided to request member commercial banks to provide data on daily basis for setting the country's benchmark interest rate for the financial market."We've decided to advise our 44-member commercial banks to quote DIBOR (Dhaka Inter-bank Offered Rate) rate on daily basis by 11 a.m. (local time)," Chairman of the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association (BAFEDA) Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear told AHN Media in the city on Monday.The decision was taken at a meeting of the executive committee of BAFEDA, held at its city office on Sunday, he said, adding that the BAFEDA would communicate the decision to all member banks shortly.Bukhtear, who is also Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Agrani Bank Ltd, said the BAFEDA will hold annual general meeting on Oct. 10.The DIBOR has been introduced for the first time in Bangladesh aiming to ensure transparency in the country's inter-bank money market from the first week of January this year.Currently, some commercial banks are providing inter-bank-offered rates to Reuters for publishing each working day, a treasury official said.Under the DIBOR, the banks publish five tenor rates initially to ensure transparency in the country's money market, he said, adding that the rates are overnight, one week, two weeks, one month and three months.The DIBOR is a rate at which the banks will lend to each other for a specific maturity period in the Dhaka market.It is also fixed every day for reference purpose. It indicates a key interest rate level used for setting rates on loans and floating rates on notes and for calculating cash settlement of derivative instruments of certain interest rates.In South Asia, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have already introduced their benchmark interest rates to help smooth operation of their financial markets.

Forex: Passage Of Bill Demonstrates U.S. Commitment To Pakistan: Kerry

(RTTNews) - Wednesday, top American Senator John Kerry welcomed the passage of a Congressional bill to triple non-military aid to Pakistan, saying this affirms United States' long term commitment to Islamabad, reports say.
Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a newly-negotiated version of the Kerry-Lugar Pakistan aid bill that would triple the non-military aid to Pakistan to USD 7.5 billion in the next five years.
"This bill reaffirms the depth of America's long-term commitment to the people and Government of Pakistan," Senator John Kerry said soon after the bill was passed by the House of Representatives by a voice vote.
The voice vote came a week after Senate approved the measure through a process known as "Unanimous Consent"--where the Senate doesn't actually vote on the bill, but nobody raises any objections, so it goes through--to pass the measure.
The final legislation passed by both the chambers of the U.S. Congress was based on a compromise between bills passed earlier by the Senate and House. The bicameral legislation now goes to U.S. President Barack Obama for his signature.
Welcoming the passage of the measure, Congressman Howard L Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee stressed on the need to forge a true strategic partnership with Pakistan and its people, strengthen its democratic government, and work to make it a source of stability in a volatile region.
Warning that terrorists currently sheltered in Pakistan's lawless hinterlands are plotting to attack the United States, he said this legislation helps give Pakistan the tools to defeat the Al-Qaida.
Recipe For Disappointment And Disillusionment: Gary Ackerman
However, Congressman Gary Ackerman said that the bicameral legislation, which triples non-military aid to Pakistan and softens the conditions on Islamabad, is a recipe for disappointment and disillusionment.
Stating that U.S. success will depend chiefly on reforms taken in Pakistan by Pakistanis, Ackerman said he sees little in the bill that provides any assurance that such changes are on the way, adding that Washington is again choosing to be Islamabad's patron rather than its partner.
The bill, initially introduced in the Senate by Joe Biden, then in the capacity as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and its ranking member, Senator Dick Lugar, has seen several changes and is now called Kerry-Lugar bill as it has been re-introduced by Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Lugar.

Forex: USD 899 Mn Aid To Pakistan For Healthcare, Education

(RTTNews) - Thursday, the United States and Pakistan signed agreements that will provide Islamabad with USD 899 million in assistance for healthcare, education, governance and reconstruction of areas affected by the 2005 earthquake, reports say.
A statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Islamabad said that the agreements for cooperation in these fields would bring the total obligations to Pakistan through USAID this year to 920 million dollars. It said a "substantial amount" of the funds would be provided to the government and local NGOs to implement programs in these areas.
The pacts include direct budgetary support of USD 174 million for 'Benazir Income Support Program' for women, an income support scheme for persons displaced by the recent Pakistani military operations against Taliban, and aid to technical and vocational education activities under the Higher Education Commission.
The agreements would also see the U.S. increasing resources to sectors that foster economic growth, including the energy sector.
Deputy Chief of Mission, Gerald Feierstein, said these agreements demonstrate the U.S.' enduring commitment to help Pakistan enhance the lives of its citizens through improved delivery of services.
The agreements came just days after the U.S. Congress approved a newly-negotiated version of the Kerry-Lugar Pakistan aid bill that would triple the non-military aid to Pakistan to USD 7.5 billion in the next five years. The bill now awaits President Barack Obama's signature.

SC adjourns forex scam bail hearing

KarachiThe Supreme Court (SC) adjourned on Thursday, on the request of the deputy attorney general, the hearing of the bail applications of the directors of a money-exchange company, who are facing charges for money-laundering.Hanif S Kalia, Abdul Munaf Kalia and Javed Khanani are facing charges for the alleged illegal transfer of foreign exchange, evading import duties and taxes and causing colossal loss to the government in respect of foreign exchange. On July 6, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had rejected their bail applications with direction to the trial court to conclude their trial expeditiously.Deputy Attorney General Nazar Akbar sought adjournment because the special prosecutor is supposed to appear and contest the bail applications. The SC’s two member bench granted time adjourned the hearing.The applicants’ counsels, Rasheed A. Razvi and Munir A. Malik, submitted that no evidence of money-laundering had been established against the defendants who were detained for the past 10 months. They submitted that the trial court denied bail to them despite the fact that no direct complaint was filed against them by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).They said there was no physical transfer of foreign exchange from Pakistan by the petitioner and the case against them was based on malafide intentions, because the SBP as a licensee and regulatory body was not aggrieved by the activities and transactions of the petitioners. The SBP has therefore not filed any complaint yet against the petitioners’ company, they said.SHC employees petition: The SHC directed the provincial and federal law officers to file comments on a petition regarding the enhancement of judicial and utility allowance to SHC employees as being availed by employees of other high courts of the country.Unauthorised construction: The SHC directed the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) to submit an inquiry report regarding alleged unauthorised construction at Preedy Street. The court observed that merely cosmetic actions were taken against the construction in question.The KBCA counsel was also directed to submit a report regarding action taken against the builder and the architect for the violation of building rules.

Forex reserves decline to $14.243 billion

KARACHI: The country's foreign exchange reserves have declined to $14.243 billion on the week ending on September 05 as compared with $14.307 billion last week, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan shows on Thursday.The overall reserves recorded a loss of $64 millions during the last week. The reserves held by the SBP witnessed a decrease of $52 million to reach $10.739 billion, compared with $10.791 billion last week. The reserves held by the banks other than SBP recorded a decline of $11 million to reach $3.504 billion as compared with $3.515 billion last week. The third tranche of the loan approved by the IMF recently had boosted the foreign exchange reserves of the country, but economists have criticized the approach of the government. They say that obtaining loans to increase reserves was not a good strategy. They add that government should try to increase reserves by boosting exports. They also say that reserves will start declining once again once the payments of these loans begin. By obtaining the loan in November 2008 Pakistan avoided a default on its obligations as it had to pay $500 million that it had borrowed by launching bonds a few years ago. However, government's continued reliance on IMF is not desirable, say the economists.

Moody’s keeps Pakistan economy rating ‘stable’

KARACHI: International economic rating agency Moody’s Investor Services has placed Pakistan among countries enjoying the stable economies.According to Aanand Mitra, the analyst of the Moody’s Investor Services, Pakistan is seeing the economic growing towards stability cum positive policies for gradual increment in the foreign exchange reserves.He termed the increase in Forex as positive signs for the growth and stability in economy.

Pakistan forex reserves surges by 1156 million

KARACHI: Pakistan foreign exchange reserves swelling up process continues, as it was seen recording a significant increase by 1156 million during one week.State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data showed that foreign exchange reserves in the country has shot up to $14.47 billion, recording significant increase of $1156 million during the week ending September 19. State Bank reserves amounted to $10.94 billion, while those with the commercial banks $3.53 billion.Analysts said that following Pakistan’s international credit rating improvement, foreign investors have went into action in the stock market, which has resulted in the pouring in of forex in the country. Besides, the shrinking trade deficit was also positively impacting on the forex reserves, said the analyst.